Gang members get tattoos on their necks and faces to intimidate their enemies, show allegiance to their set at all times and to prove they're thugging for life.
The rest of their tats likewise show a lifelong commitment to the gang, but those can be covered up when need be and don't necessarily affect their daily lives.
So what are former gang members to do when they're trying to go straight but their face and neck tats always make them look crooked?
Eventually they'll be able to afford laser tattoo removal, but for now they'll have to settle for seeing themselves without tats in these perception altering portraits by photographer Steven Burton.
Some of the former gang members featured in Steven's "Skin Deep" series say they've been tattooed for so long they've forgotten what they look like without tats.
Steven hopes his portrait series will help ex-gang members remember who they really are beneath all that ink:
‘I was inspired by the homeboys/girls trying to change there lives against the odds,’ burton recalls. ‘the concept came to me when I watched the homeboys going through the tattoo removal process. the idea was to digitally remove the tattoos, present the before and after photos to the subjects and see how they would react. I knew that the subjects would be shocked by the images, and probably amused, but I didn’t realize the full impact these photos would have on them, nor was I aware of the kind of impact their reactions would have on me. it was a little surprising for everyone.’
See Steven Burton Digitally Deletes The Tattoos Of Ex-Gang Members here